


An Unheard Song of Arrows

by azeryFalwren



Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Genre: All my homies hate Flanagan, Book 4: The Battle For Skandia (Ranger's Apprentice), Deaf Character, Fuck Flanagan, Future Craltine, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Multi, Past Drug Addiction, Slavery, Will went deaf due to Skandia(tm)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:48:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27206144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azeryFalwren/pseuds/azeryFalwren
Summary: After the events of Book 4, Will, Horace, Cassandra, and Halt all return to Araluen. But more has happened than what happened in canon..Basically, this fic is a big FUCK YOU to Flanagan, who apparently cant even write his own books properly. Much distaste @ Flanagan. (This is meant to be a joke, stop freaking out over this in the comments PLEASE)Also, this is originally off of my writing blog on tumblr, so the format may or may not seem weird.
Relationships: Pauline duLacy/Crowley Meratyn/Halt O'Carrick
Comments: 36
Kudos: 35





	1. Coming Home

A Skandian ship glides along the River Semath. A rare, normally unwanted sight. But the personal standard of Princess Cassandra, heiress to King Duncan’s throne, flies high at the mast, granting passage to the way formerly inaccessible by Skandian Wolfships.

A princess thought dead, a Ranger banished, a weary Battleschool apprentice, and a broken apprentice sail upon the ship, accompanied by the Oberjarl himself, with the best crew in Skandia.

The only ones able to feel excited at the moment are Evanlyn and Erak. Evanlyn because she gets to see her father again, and Erak because he’s getting to see the very heart of Araluen, without having to fight for his crewmates. He’s had enough of that for a long time.

Horace is by Evanlyn’s side, fulfilling his duty as her guard on this venture. Though he’d rather be by the side of Will.

The apprentice is resting in a pile of discarded ropes, with his mentor sitting beside him. The elder ranger refuses to leave Will alone, considering how fearful he’s appeared when left alone with the Skandians nearby.

The boy had been such an asset before and during the war for Skandia, even with his damaged hearing, but the action had been so stressful for the apprentice, having had no choice but to assist the archers along with Evanlyn. Having Horace watching his back and Evanlyn helping direct the archers was a blessing, to be honest.

But it didn’t stop the harsh rush of blood in his head from damaging his ears further.

After the battle, Will had fainted from the pressure and dizziness, and Horace, who’d been by his side, had quickly rushed the apprentice Ranger to Halt.

Will had been unconscious until the next sunrise, waking up with a weird, almost stuffy feeling in his ears. Reminiscent of his time in Skandia, right before the warmweed took him.

He wishes his memory of that time hadn’t come back.

Not too long later, they’d boarded the Skandian wolfship and began the journey to Castle Araluen, Evanlyn’s standard high overhead.

And now they’re finally able to see the castle in all its glory. Almost home.

Halt has an arm around his resting apprentice, who’s just staring up at the standard that’s waving in the wind above them, as if hypnotized. He hadn’t had to have a dose of warmweed since before the voyage, which was a blessing, but this was simply the calm before the storm. Halt could tell.

Horace is stunned every time he sees the two Rangers together now. He’s never seen Halt show this much.. Sympathy? Emotion in general? Horace is almost certain he saw Halt’s eyes tear up the last time Will needed a dose. But to be honest, Horace was teary as well, so he couldn’t say much.

The ship shudders to a stop, and Halt put on his usual mask of steel- cold, unyielding, something to be feared.

It didn’t scare Will, though. Or anyone else on the ship.

Halt stood, carefully helping his apprentice stand as well.

The moment Will looked, he could see Evanlyn leaping into King Duncan’s arms. The crowd seemed to be causing a ruckus, not that Will could hear them.

Halt kept an arm around his apprentice, leading him to the exit at the side of the ship. Will looked anxious as he saw the King turn his attention to Horace, who was making his way onto land, toward his King.

Will would follow, but he wanted to stay with Halt, who made no moves to join the others below.

Formalities were exchanged, and then Duncan turned to Halt.

“Halt.. Come ashore, Halt. You’re home. You too, Will.”

Halt stood there, his mask evaporating more than a little bit, showing hard-to-contain sorrow.

“Your.. Your Majesty, the banishment still has 3 weeks to run..”

He has to look down, away from the crowd, and his king.

Will is looking right at Halt, not really understanding what’s happening right now. He can’t hear the King’s next words- not that he could hear any spoken before.

“Halt, it was a drunken mistake on your part, and given the circumstances, i’ve already forgiven you. So please, come down here.”

Crowley, Ranger Commandant, stood in the shadows nearby, watching all of this with watery eyes, knowing the only answer possible was no.

“Your Majesty, nothing would make me happier.. But you must uphold the law.”

Halt was fighting hard to keep tears from welling up in his eyes.

Lord Anthony, Chamberlain to the King chimed in as well, sounding a bit sorrowful as well.

“Halt is right, Your Majesty. After all, he did say you were the issue of an encounter between your father and a travelling hatcha-hatcha dancer.”

The crowd looked on in horror, and Duncan sighed. “Thank you for reminding us all, Anthony.”

Evanlyn broke down, cackling in VERY unroyal fashion.

“I-I am so sorry everyone, but if you ever knew my grandmother, you’d understand why my grandfather might have been tempted! Grandma had a face like a robber’s dog- and a temperament to match!”

“Cassie!” Duncan cried in his most disapproving tone. But Evanlyn was cackling again, holding her ribs and struggling to catch a breath.

The crowd started laughing as well, taking quite some time to come back into order.

Will didn’t understand what was going on, and he just leaned against Halt carefully, murmuring something quiet and slurred that even Halt, right there, can’t hear. The elder ranger gently ruffles Will’s hair, and the boy begins to relax, if only slightly.

While the gathered people began to calm down, Duncan turned to his chamberlain, keeping his voice low, yet reasonable.

“Surely, Anthony, it’s within my powers to pardon Halt for the last three weeks of his sentence?”

But Anthony shook his head, frowning. “Such a thing would set unfortunate precedents in law.”

And then Erak’s voice boomed through the crowd.

“King Duncan!”

Silence fell among the whole crowd.

Erak felt a bit awkward, realizing he spoke a bit more forcibly than he had meant to. It would take some time for him to be comfortable in formal matters like this. Nevertheless, he continued onward, focusing on keeping his voice at a more moderate volume.

“Perhaps i could request that you grant this pardon- as a gesture of goodwill to seal the treaty between our two countries?”

Crowley perked up at that, realizing there was a loophole there. Anthony seemed to see it too, because when Duncan hastily turned to his Chamberlain, Anthony nodded, saying such a request would set no precedents.

“It is a very special occasion after all, isn’t it, Your Majesty?”

“Haha, of course, now, Halt, join us! You too, young Will!”

Evanlyn seemed to realize something, and tugged on her father’s sleeve. Having his attention, she whispered something in his ear, whatever she said making him stunned as Halt gently led Will down to shore.

Duncan stood to his full height as Halt stepped forward, both exchanging a nod of respect, with the two Rangers bowing to their king. Nobody noticed another figure, clad in a camouflage green and grey cloak, bearing a gold oakleaf, ghosting through the crowd to stand near Duncan, except for the Ranger approaching already, leading Will with him.

Crowley was close to tears, a grin splitting his face as he watched Halt and Will approach.

But especially Halt.

“Welcome back, Halt, Will. It’s good to see you both again.”

Halt sighed, smiling a bit as well. “Thank you, Crowley. I’m sure Will does too.”

Will looked up at Crowley, smiling slightly, unaware that he was just greeted. “N-Nice to see you, Commandant Meratyn.”

Crowley raised an eyebrow, but nodded, and began exchanging words with Halt.

“You can tell me what’s happened later. But for now, welcome back. I suppose you’ll need this.”

He reached into his pocket, holding out a thin metal chain, a silver oakleaf dangling from it.

Halt smiled, taking it in his hand and putting it on.

Halt was finally home, with his apprentice and his best friend. He’ll be ecstatic to see Lady Pauline when he returns to Redmont with Will.

Horace was speaking with Battlemaster Rodney and Baron Arald, with Arald seeming somewhat shocked by something. 

Will didnt notice. His attention had gone away again. Not to the ground, or to the crowds surrounding them, nor to the two rangers making quiet conversation. No, it went to the bronze oakleaf he wore around his neck.

He frowned as he thought, thought of what might happen now that he was home. Would he lose his oakleaf, because of his new inability to hear? Would the still lingering side effects of the warmweed hinder him, even if he were allowed to keep the oakleaf?

Would the overall trauma he experienced keep him from going on a mission ever again?

Those were questions he wasn’t sure he wanted answers to.

Lost in his thoughts, he almost didn’t notice the fact that he was slowly being led toward Castle Araluen. Almost. He forced himself to look up, seeing the crowd make way for the King, his daughter, and the whole entourage. He cringed a bit as he felt eyes turning toward him, and he had to lean into Halt a bit for comfort. Comfort the man was quick to provide, wrapping his cloak partially around Will and making sure he stayed close.

And as the returning four made their way into the castle, along with a couple of Skandians to escort Erak, only one question could be asked.

Are there any adventures left for the band to go on?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halt and Crowley need to talk..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasnt satisfied with the original chap 2, so i edited some bits to make it flow a little better.

It was 4 days after the Araluens returned home.

Halt had been spending a lot of time with Crowley, when the Commandant wasnt horribly busy. Most of that time was spent talking about the events in Skandia. 

Crowley had had Cassandra and Halt both explain what happened, and had been shocked when he found out what happened to Will during his time as a slave. Halt explained what happened before the battle with the Temujai, and what he’d been up to during the battle, while Cassandra talked about her side of things.

Of course, this was only the official side of things. What would be written down in official reports and files.

At the end of the day, when Crowley had forced himself to finish all the most urgent things, and Halt was sure that Will was safe with Horace, the two older Rangers made their way into the woods that lay not far from the castle, enjoying the silence that came with the late hours of the day, when the sun was low in the sky, and the village was settling in for an evening of celebration for the return of Cassandra.

This was the only way the two would ever be able to be together- secretive, as all Rangers are. Nobody would know, the two men would take this secret to their graves, into whatever afterlife awaited them.

But that was never the focus.

Instead, they focused on simply being together- talking, showing eachother their emotions, stealing kisses with the certainty that nobody would ever see them. Giving affection to eachother that they likely wouldnt give anyone else.

And now, with everything that had happened in Skandia, these are how Crowley has to drag Halt out of the shell his lover had hidden within in Skandia, that he’d built around himself with only enough space for himself and his apprentice.

It didnt take much effort, though. After a few stray kisses, finding cover under a tall tree within the forest to get comfortable, Crowley had Halt talking. Answering questions unrelated to what’s happened, things about Will or Gilan. Stuff that happened during their apprenticeships, like Gilan shooting himself in the foot… somehow.

That gave Crowley a good laugh, and while it didnt help the dull throb in his head from staring at papers for too long, it did lessen the stress he felt. It helped Halt too, though it didnt last long, not with Crowley’s next words, after calming down some..

“Halt.. I know we came out here to relax, but.. We need to speak about Will.”

Halt’s smile slid from his face, replaced by a look of wariness. “What about him?”

Crowley sighed, hands folded in his lap.

“You know he likely can’t keep the oakleaf, Halt. His hearing puts him in too much danger.”

"Crowley-"

Crowley raised his hands in defense, “I know, i know. But you understand exactly what im saying. With all that happened, with his hearing mostly, continuing his training could be near impossible- hell, even dangerous to not just him, but others as well. Even to you.”

“I- we’d find a way, Crowley, Berrigan is a great example of this.” Halt insisted, stubborn as ever. He had a point, but this was still a different situation.

“I know that, Halt. But this is a different issue. Sending him on any missions by himself would be too dangerous. He can hardly hear himself from what i understand, much less his target.”

“We’ll find a way, Crowley.” Halt's tone grows more annoyed, and his expression shows anger breaking through the stoic mask that had risen again during this somewhat brief but discussion.

“Halt, you arent listening, continuing his training could be pointless, i can’t let him become a full-fledged ranger, it would put him in too much da-”

“The danger, the danger.” Halt scoffed, shaking his head. “Danger is the life Rangers live, Crowley. Its in our job description. How much danger were we always in when we were starting out? A lot. You remember. This is just an extra challenge.”

Crowley had enough of this, he regretted bringing up at all, but he knew he had to.

“Halt, quiet." 

"Crowley, dont-” Halt was cut off by Crowley’s voice, insistent and almost as stubborn as Halt’s own.

“I said quiet, Halt. Please.”

Halt stopped, and though he still was obviously frustrated, he kept his mouth shut, which Crowley was grateful for.

Crowley leaned back against the tree trunk, taking deep breaths and thinking, thinking on ways it could work, heavily considering any and all options that came to mind.

The fact that there were so few made him frustrated.

Halt sat to the side, wearing that oh so obvious mask of umbrage at Crowley’s words. Halt wasnt considering all the issues this might hold, he only saw the possibilities if Will could fight through all this.

Of course he wants Will to be safe, that’s all he wanted since he left to go to Skandia.

But he fears what would happen next, if Will were to lose his oakleaf. What would be waiting for him, a day of farming or boredom? A life of nothing? There was no way that Halt would let that happen to his apprentice. Not so early in the boy’s life.

Finally, Crowley just sighs, resting his arms on his knees, drawn up to his chest, and dropping his throbbing head onto them.

“Halt. If Will can work around this-.. If he can find a way to work around the situation, by the time of the next gathering? I’ll let him continue his training. Until then, he can keep his bronze.”

Crowley wasn’t sure if he was making the right decision. He knew that this would be difficult for Will, and likely difficult for Halt as well.

But when he looked up, when he saw the look of almost joy on Halt’s face, unable to be hidden by that expression of stone, he smiled, and he knew that the choice, for now, was worth it. He lived for that expression, and Halt knew it.

Halt shifted so he was sitting closer to Crowley, resting his forehead on the Commandant’s shoulder and just smiling, knowing nobody would be able to see it. “Thank you, Crowley. As much as i hate it, i owe you one.”

Crowley ruffled the hair of his partner and wrapped an arm around him. This is more affection than Halt would normally show, even to him, and he knew it, so he chose to soak it in while it lasted. “You can make it up to me later on, Halt.”

They both chuckled at the implications of that, but they both knew now was the time to just.. relax.

Eventually, the time came to return to the castle, and Halt stood up first, dusting himself off and allowing his comfortable smile to linger a moment longer, long enough for Crowley to see it before it was covered by that mask of stone. “Come here, you heavy lug, before the plants grow over you.”

Halt helped Crowley up as he snickered, patting the shorter Ranger’s head. “We weren’t sitting there THAT long, love.”

“Says the one with no sense of time.”

“I fell asleep that ONE time, okay? Don’t hold it against me.”

They both grinned at eachother for a few moments before beginning to make their way out of the forest, silent as mist rolling into the meadows, like Rangers should be.

It was almost entirely dark around the castle and village, save for the scant amount of torch light, stars sparkling all across the blue-black blanket of the sky, with the very faintest glow of moonlight, the sun far beyond its setting.

The two shared a moment in the beautiful silence, stealing one last kiss while still hidden in the shadow of the trees, before moving toward the entrance of the castle like ghosts, unseen by the guards until reaching the rings of torch light.

The guards didn’t question what the two rangers were doing out. They knew better than to question rangers, especially these two.

Crowley escorted Halt back to the small suite that he shared with Horace and Will, stopping outside the door to exchange a last farewell for the night.

Halt nodded respectfully to Crowley, who did the same. “I’d thank you again for the decision you made, but then it would go to your already massive head.”

“Haha, you’re the one with the big head. All these stories about you from the village folk, when in reality you’re half my height.” Crowley laughed as Halt smacked his partner’s arm. “Good night, Halt.”

“Yes, yes, good night you insufferable pain in my ass.”

Crowley playfully gasped. “Halt, there are children behind that door.”

Halt rolled his eyes. “They’re just as guilty of saying ‘ass’ as we are. In fact, i wouldnt blame any of them for cursing their tongues out. Now, go rest so you can stare at more papers in the morning.”

Crowley groaned before shaking his head and turning to return to his office. There’s always more work to be done as the Commandant. No amount of time with Halt can let him escape from that fact.

Halt entered the suite, finding Horace sitting at the table, polishing his sword, which, in truth, wasnt in bad condition. He’d had plenty of time to give it maintenance on the journey here.

“Good evening, Horace.”

“Hey, Halt. Where have you been off to?” The Battleschool apprentice looked up from his work, letting the tip of his sword rest against the cold stone floor.

“Working, what else? Somebody needs to keep Crowley from losing his head.”

Horace hummed with amusement before returning his gaze to his weapon.

“Will is sleeping, I checked not long ago.”

“You actually kept an eye on Will like I told you?” Halt raised an eyebrow jokingly, draping his cloak over the back of a chair before sitting down.

“Of course I did, I owe him.”

“Hm, still on about that boar hunt?”

Horace chuckled, nodding as he examined his sword for the umpteenth time since he began maintenance on it. 

“Of course. He risked his life for me, even if the way he did it was incredibly stupid. And after everything that’s happened, well.. I feel like I owe him that much more.”

Halt rolled his eyes. “Your loyalty will be your downfall someday.”

“Then I’ll die knowing I did it to protect someone.”

Halt saw that Will had a good friend in Horace. He’d seen that for some time now. In the end, Halt knew that if something should happen to him, he could trust Horace to take care of his apprentice.

That’s all Halt really wanted, in the very end.

“You’re determined to die a noble death, aren’t you?”

Horace smiled, looking right at Halt.

“If it means i’m dying to save people, especially a friend? Yes.”

The young warrior sheathed his sword and stood up, moving to go to bed.

“G'night, Halt. Sleep well.”

Halt watched him turn to leave, then whispered under his breath. “Good night, Horace.”

Horace didn’t hear it, he wasn’t meant to. As Horace disappeared into the room he and Will shared, Halt took his bow, resting on the table, in hand, and began to examine the bowstring, taking a cue from Horace on the need to maintain their weapons. 

He smiled sadly as he thought of the two young apprentices, knowing that the two have changed so much, in such a short span of their lives. It’s bittersweet to think about, and he stayed up with the thought in his head until the moon was high above the castle, and he fell asleep with the wish of his younger companions, happy and living their best lives, in his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter should be some more stuff from Will's POV, but i need to figure out more ideas for how this series will go, so i'll be working on that as well. So if y'all have any ideas or suggestions, PLEASE share them, i would appreciate more ideas SO much. And again, feedback is appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to say now, this was a pain to write.
> 
> I had to use way more references than i normally do in fics, an to be perfectly honest it probably still isnt accurate to the timeline.
> 
> Now, for how this came about.
> 
> The idea was inspired by an idea proposed on the Ranger Corps discord server. Somebody suggested a Marvel AU as an idea for something, and as ideas flew, and suggestions of who would be who, somebody suggested that Will would be Hawkeye, from the comics! And any hardcore Marvel fans know that Hawkeye was deaf in the comics! I found that most interesting idea so far, and eventually it moved to a discussion about making an au where Will was forcibly deafened.
> 
> Long story short, i decided to write this piece of shit, which has a lot of grammatical errors, timeline errors, so on so forth.
> 
> Anyway, i should mention that quite a few headcanons will likely be thrown into this fic, including one that has been flying around on the server that was posted by pokegeek151 on tumblr, and i'll link to that post tomorrow because i fear AO3 tbh.


End file.
